Of Witches and Watches
by malmalisme
Summary: Ginny buys an antique watch, but is it more than it appears? (hint:yes) I had every intention of writing a DG romance, but the story leading up to it got so exciting I decided to write that first. There will be some hooking up eventually though! If you
1. Prologue: A Summer Purchase

A little note from the lovely authoress: All of the things in this chapter and those to come are the property of Ms. JK Rowling and thus not mine. I am only borrowing them, so I can play for a while. Happy reading, review if it suits you. Now, on to the prologue!

Summer Purchase

Ginevra Weasley stood staring into the window of Madam Malkin's with much the same expression the boys down the street had staring at the latest model of the Firebolt. You wouldn't have guessed by looking at her that Ginny, as those close to her called her, cared very much about designer robes. And, for the most part, she didn't, but every once in a while there would be something truly spectacular that caught her eye. This was most definitely one of those times. The mirror that stood next to the dress in the display window was enchanted to show the gazer a picture of themselves in the robes. Ginny really liked her reflection at the moment. She sighed, wishing her family had more gold. It might not be a problem soon; her father was the top contender for the new Minister of Magic. They hadn't yet had an official election, but ever since Dumbledore announced that he was in support of Arthur Weasley, he had been ridiculously far ahead in the poles.

Ginny was still staring at the robes 15 minutes later, trying to figure out how much she would have left if she spent all of her summer earnings on them. She had finally decided that since her answer fell somewhere between "none" and "not much at all" that it wasn't worth it… _Not yet at any rate; if Dad gets Minister then I'll just ask for them for Christmas._

She looked down at her watch to see if her break was over. Nope, the hand was still pointed toward "Break time". When she looked up again she saw an unpleasantly familiar face reflected back in the window. But because Draco Malfoy was walking down the street with his mother, he didn't have time to properly jeer at her. He just glanced over and scoffed, turning his nose up as he muttered something about blood traitors.

"Ugh," Ginny said softly, rolling her eyes. She decided that she had been staring at the robes long enough, but she still had another few minutes before her brothers expected her back at the shop. She walked by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes where her older twin brothers had hired her as a part-time clerk for the summer holidays. They didn't look too busy and so she decided to go into one more shop before going back to the bedlam that was work.

The second she stepped foot into Pandora's Box of Assorted Treasures, Ginny was taken aback by the musty smell. This was Ginny's favorite shop, but she never could quite get used to the smell… _Or the dust, _she thought as she sneezed twice. It was a nice effect, making everything seem really old… and almost as if you were discovering the items after no one had seen them for a very long time.

She wandered aimlessly, staring and occasionally fingering a price-tag mournfully. That is, until she spotted a pocket watch that seemed to be broken.

"I wonder if Dad would like it." She mused aloud, examining the small hands beneath the unscratched glass. She debated buying it and fixing it herself. Merlin knew she had had enough practice on her own, having restored it to perfection after much effort. Upon checking the tag for a price, she found that it wasn't too expensive. And it would make such a lovely gift if her father got Minister. She thought about it just a moment more and then snatched it up and went to pay for it.

Delighted with her new purchase, Ginny cheerfully made her way back to work.


	2. Railroad Encounter

Railroad Encounter

"Oy, Ginny! Hurry it up, will you?" Ron yelled up the stairwell.

"Well, if you'd help me with my trunk," she yelled back, "it wouldn't take so long! Give me a hand and quit your griping!" He ran up the stairs and with the help of Arthur, they lugged the heavy trunk down the stairs and into the car.

"Bloody hell, Gin, what's _in_ this thing?" Ron demanded, his face pink with exertion and temper. His face reddened more so at a look from his father about his language.

"I have to agree with Ron on this one, Ginny. This must weigh as much as a house. What _have_ you got in here?" Arthur asked curiously. Ginny grinned impishly and blushed ever so slightly.

"Well," she started as she, Ron, Harry Potter (who always seemed to be with her family at the end of the summer), and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley climbed into the car, "there's my robes, my school supplies (books, cauldron, quills, ink, and parchment), some extra clothes, and a few other necessities."

"Like what? Your entire room, maybe?" Ron muttered, rolling his shoulders as though they ached. Everyone knew he did it more for show than actual pain. That was just Ron. Harry chuckled, smiling at Ginny. She smiled back and enjoyed the rest of the ride to London.

They were hustling through the barricade to platform nine and three quarters when Hermione Granger stuck her head out of one of the train windows.

"Ron! Come on! We need all the Prefects up front!" she yelled upon spotting him. He waved and nodded to show that he acknowledged her. After a quick goodbye to his parents and assurance that Harry would make sure his trunk and Pig (his owl) were stowed onto the train, he hurried off. Arthur helped, since Harry had his own trunk and owl to worry about.

It took quite a long time to get Ginny and Harry situated in the usual compartment towards the back of the train. Hermione's things were already neatly stashed away, and before they had finished putting away all of their own things both Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood had joined them. Ginny was glad of the fact, because she had always been a little anxious around Harry. It wasn't because she liked him, and it wasn't hate either. It was a sort of cold indifference coupled with the fact that she didn't feel safe around him, especially after his violent mood swings last term. Having six older brothers, Ginny was used to feeling well protected; Harry took away from that feeling and she didn't like it. She had felt safer with Tom Riddle than she ever had with Harry Potter.

Ginny kissed her Mum and Dad good-bye, and settled in for the long train ride. She looked out the window, daydreaming, until Luna let out a gasp. Luna was reading _The Quibbler_ as usual (an interesting piece of literature for a Ravenclaw, but she was justified because her father was the editor). Luna tended to gasp and go bug-eyed quite often when reading _The Quibbler_, so Ginny didn't think much of the occurrence, and seeing how she was the only other one awake, decided to humor her.

"What is it Luna? Did you reading something interesting?" Ginny asked, knowing perfectly well that she had.

Luna jabbed her finger at the article. "You knew that Sirius Black is in fact Stubby Boardman from The Hobgoblins right? Well, it has just leaked out to _Quibbler _sources that he has died, but the weird part is that it was in the_ accordance_ way he predicted on the hidden track of their last CD!"

"Really, Luna?" Ginny asked disinterestedly. She knew that _The Quibbler_ was never on target. All their stories were as far from the truth as it was possible to be without being completely made up, except in the cases where they were flat-out made up.

"Honest to God! It says right here that their song, 'Through the Veil,' was-"

"Wait! Luna, could you… hold on… I mean…" Harry had perked up out of his dreamlike state and was a bit flustered, trying to figure out what Luna was saying. He crossed the compartment and sat next to Luna, fumbling with his glasses all the while. A startled Ginny stood up for fear of being squished and would have just moved across the compartment, but the moment Harry moved Neville had lain down properly and was now taking up the entire seat.

Luna and Harry were both now thoroughly engrossed in the article about Harry's late Godfather and since Ginny was feeling like an extra wheel she decided that now would be a good time to stretch her legs in the corridor. She exited the compartment quickly, sure she wouldn't be missed for a long while.

Sighing, she made her way slowly down the corridor and ran smack into someone.

"Watch where you're going." They both snapped from their respective positions on the ground. Draco was surprised to be spoken to in that tone of voice…until he realized it was Ginevra Weasley doing the speaking.

_That certainly explains the _poor_ manners,_ he thought snidely, glaring at the young woman who glared right back. "Why don't you keep your head out of the clouds and pay more attention to where you're going, _Weasley_?" He growled, insulted at how she had spoken to him when _she_ had been the one to run into him.

"I was about to ask you the same, _Malfoy_." she asked, getting to her feet. "I'm sure you can help yourself up." She added angrily, while he glared at her from the floor.

"As If I'd need help from _you_." He muttered, getting to his feet, as well. "You and your whole family are ruddy blood traitors." He added, still glaring at her.

Ginny had her wand out and pointing at Draco's face faster than he would have imagined possible. "Speaking ill of _my _family, are you Malfoy? _Never _insult them in front of me. Or did you like that Bat Bogey Hex last term?" Ginny almost laughed in delight, remembering Draco dodging about Umbridge's office trying to avoid the flying bogies. Draco just looked at her in his usual bored manner, almost as if he didn't believe that she knew how to use a wand properly. She was immediately vexed at his nonchalance and said the meanest thing that would come to her mind, "At least _my _father is not in Azkaban!" As soon as the words left her lips, she realized her mistake. Even if it was Malfoy she was talking to, it was no excuse to hit so far below the belt. What she had said was just cruel and she knew it. She saw the reward of her spite as a glimmer of hurt in Draco's eyes. It was gone as quickly as it came, masked over with intense hatred, but she knew she had cut deep with that remark. She wanted to apologize but Draco was in no mood to hear it. He pushed her up against the wall and though he hurt her, she did not cry out, feeling in some way that she deserved this.

"You told me not to speak ill of your family… and then you speak ill of mine? Do you know what, _Miss_ Weasley? They are blood traitors, the lot of them. Fortunate enough to be purebloods and then pretending not to give a rip about it. But tell me this: have any of your family ever married a Muggle? Or even a mudblood? You're just a bunch of hypocrites. A Malfoy isn't afraid to say what he thinks of those with dirty blood. We don't hide it." He turned to walk away, he hadn't gone more than two steps when he pivoted, wand drawn, "And don't you _ever _threaten me again." With that, he stalked off.

Ginny slumped to the floor, replaying the encounter in her mind. She was ashamed of herself; she never tried to hit people where she knew them to be vulnerable. She decided not to dwell on it. It was only Malfoy after all. So, ignoring pangs of guilt, she got up and went in search of the sweets trolley to buy a few snacks for herself. But she wouldn't forget being called a hypocrite; she knew she would wrestle with those words in the future. His logic made sense, didn't it? _If the Weasleys are so fond of Muggles, then why are we still a pure-blood family?_


	3. Back at School

Back at School

The rest of the train ride was uneventful and Ginny couldn't wait to be on her way to Hogwarts in one of the carriages. Though, she knew the Thestral's pulled the carriages, she'd always felt a mite uncomfortable at not being able to see them. She grinned at the first years that nervously made their way with Hagrid to the boats. Fond memories lay within her first year…along with not so fond memories.

She rode in silence with Hermione and Ron, while the two carried on of their duties as Prefects, Hermione unrelenting in giving the students slack if they break the rules. Ron was complaining that Harry was abandoning him for "Loony" Lovegood; Hermione was shaking her head at such nonsense, assuring him that everything would be fine, then expertly nudged the conversation back to Prefect duties.

"-don't you think so, Gin?" Ron asked fervently. Distractedly, she nodded and returned to her thoughts. "See, 'Mione? It's not that big a deal, the midgets-" Ginny sighed, ignoring the rest of the conversation as Hermione yet again told Ron off for calling the first years 'midgets'.

_I wonder how many first years we'll get in Gryffindor this year,_ she wondered absently. _I hope there aren't too many. I hate it when the common room is overly crowded. _She spent the rest of the trip thinking to herself in that manner and soon they had arrived at the sprawling castle. Hermione and Ron jumped out of the carriage very quickly in order to start Prefect duties, but Ginny took her time. There was no need for her to rush. Mrs. Weasley had been upset when Ginny hadn't been made Prefect, but Ginny was relieved. She was a lot more like her twin brothers than anyone else in the family and she would have hated to be a rule enforcer; although she did stick to her dream of being Head Girl in her seventh year. She thought about that as she leisurely fixed her hat on her head and stepped out of the carriage.

The moment she stepped into view, she felt eyes on her. She turned and saw Draco; he looked as if he'd like to stab her to death. She looked away quickly and ran to catch up with the first person she recognized, not wanting to be alone.

The rest of the day passed by without too much event. The Sorting Hat sang a lovely song (_A long time ago the Founders Four/ Built this great castle and opened the door/ to students they found who could do magical works/ then I found the House for them, each has it's perks./ Godric's House is…_ it went on like that for ten minutes) and the feast was excellent, as usual. When it was over, Ginny made her way quickly to the Gryffindor common room. She decided to use secret passages to make her way there, because she didn't want to chance another encounter with Malfoy just yet.

During her third year, Fred and George had shown her a few and then just before they left school last term they had shown her all of the ones they knew about. She found it to be a quite convenient way to get around when she didn't want to be seen. Half way there she remembered that she hadn't asked for the new password and so began to run. There was one passage that actually went directly into the Gryffindor dormitories, but since it went directly into the boys' dormitories she had to get to the opening and down to the common room before anyone got to their rooms. Ginny was convinced that there had to be one that led to the girls' rooms, but she hadn't found it yet. She successfully made it into her own room by the time the other Gryffindors arrived. She sighed on relief as she shut the door to the 5th year girl's room and began to unpack. This didn't take too long because of a new spell her mother had taught her. In seconds, everything she owned was put away neatly.

Well, almost everything, the broken pocket watch she was fixing up for her father apparently didn't know where to go and so landed on her desk. She had hidden it away after she purchased it and had almost forgotten about it. She now examined it closely for the first time. There were all the typical hands, telling you whether or not it was lunch time yet, or whether there was a family emergency and needed to be at home. There was also a part saying when you were supposed to be in class. Ginny decided that it must have belonged to a student and that she would just fix that to be for when her father had meetings. But there was one part that absolutely perplexed Ginny. She stared at it for quite sometime before she figured it out.

"It's for Muggle Time!" she cried happily. Now she knew that her father would just love this present. He had such a fascination with Muggles. She looked carefully at the numbers and figured out that this watch had stopped at 3 in the morning about 50 years ago. She found it interesting that the watch would have the year as part of it, as well as down to the second. "I guess it just like to be really accurate," she mused. She turned the watch over and studied the engravings. It was a simple design, no great flourish. It was just a nice geometric pattern around the letters C.M. Ginny could only assume that they were the previous owner's initials. _I'll have to change that to A.W._ she thought, already making a mental checklist.

She set down the watch, deciding to work on it later, when it was quieter. In the time she had sat examining it the other 5th years had come in and were being their usual rambunctious selves. Ginny went to help them with their unpacking (or rather, teach them a new spell) and catch up after not seeing any of them for the summer months.


	4. Return of a Friend

The Return of an Old Friend

The first week of school had come and gone before Ginny was able to take out the watch again. She'd managed to steer clear of Draco since the start of term banquet. Ginny was very glad of the fact because Ron had told her how horrid he was already behaving. Apparently, having his father in prison was not agreeing with him.

But, now it was the weekend and she didn't need to worry about avoiding Draco for a few days. She planned on spending the weekend fixing up the watch. Her goal was to get it looking and running perfectly before her schoolwork got out of hand, as it invariably would. Already McGonagall had given a writing assignment that was to take up four feet of parchment. Ginny didn't think a report on the ways to identify an animagus would be as interesting as playing with her pocket watch, so she was at her desk with her wand and the "Timepiece" edition of_ Do-it-Yourself Fix-it Charms_ which she had kept from her earlier watch-mending endeavor. The book made her think of her own watch and she glance down to see that the hand was pointed to "Study." She looked up again before her watch could make her feel guilty.

Earlier in the week, Ginny had made a list of what specifically needed to be done to the watch. Looking over it now, she was torn between whether to start with the harder or easier parts. She didn't struggle very long before she decided on the easier bits. Ginny knew herself well enough to know that if she didn't see any initial progress she would get discouraged. A cursory glance at her list convinced her that the part that showed "Muggle time" would be easiest to fix. _And if I get that done straight away, at least a part of the watch will be working!_

Ginny looked the process up in her Fix-it book and found that there were actually two separate parts to fixing Muggle time. Step one actually involved manual labor! Well, sort of. All Ginny actually had to do was find a little knob and turn it until it read the correct time. After a few minutes of turning she looked down and found that the numbers had not marched forward even a year. Her eyes widened in exasperation and she quickly thumbed through the book for a spell to quicken things up. "Here it is… _tornare__ acceleros!_" She watched as the hours blurred by; she did a little wand movement to slow down the knob. When it reached very near the correct time she stopped it all together and finished the winding by hand. Back to the book… another simple incantation would keep the Muggle time running accurately. _This is so easy, _she thought as she swished her wand in 12 circles and flicked "_Chronos_ _reparo_

"Lovely!" Ginny was so engrossed in admiring her handiwork that she didn't notice the swirling green vortex coming from the engravings on the watch. She didn't notice anything until she heard the voice. Even then, she didn't want to believe. It couldn't be. But she would never forget that voice, it had been part of her.

"Gryffindor," he said disgusted.

As Ginny clenched her eyes, willing him to go away, the words _why me_ and _not again_ drifted through her head. She slowly opened her eyes, not wanting to believe the dark haired Slytherin would be there. He was about two years older than the last time, but there was no mistaking him.

"Hello, Tom."

His mouth slowly curved into a thin lipped smile. "You remember me Miss Weasley, I'm flattered." Ginny did not miss the sarcasm in his last statement. "First my journal, now my grandfather's pocket watch. If you don't watch out, people will start to think you're trying to summon me."

"Your grandfather's…?" she trailed off. She was not as scared as she thought she would be, face to face with Tom Riddle again. The visage of the young Dark Lord was one she had live with consistently for a year.

"Cygnus Marvolo, my mother's father. Headmaster Dippet gave it to me in my first year. He did not think I would be able to follow in my grandfather's footsteps, but as you already know I have greatly surpassed him."

"But, how are you here when you are out there somewhere… I meant the real Vol-…the older you…and then last time…?"

"Don't you remember my diary, Ginny?" How could she forget? "I am a shadow. Not Tom, but part of his essence. I can feel my body is back in this world, and it is time that I rejoined him. Come, Ginny, and we will decide what is to be done with you."

She wanted to cry out or run, but before she could regurgitate those thoughts as action, her room had vanished into a deep blue fog. When it cleared, she did not know where she was.


	5. The Meeting

The Meeting

Ginny spent the first few moments in her new surroundings in a state of utter confusion. _You can't apparate out of Hogwarts! This has got to be some sort of illusion!_ She tried to convince herself that Tom was playing head games with her as he had done the last time, but to no avail. He-who-must-not-be-named has never been bound by the laws of the universe in the same way as everyone else. They may not have apparated, but no doubt he knew another way.

When Ginny finally came out of her thoughts long enough to examine her surroundings she was hit by relief and shock almost simultaneously: relief at not finding herself in a graveyard or similarly creepy place and shock for exactly the same reason. What she instead found was that she was in an elegant study. In the moments before he spoke she was surprised to find herself admiring her surroundings. A twinge of guilt gripped her stomach as she found herself wishing her parents would have cared a little more about having nice things, though if she had looked closer at the details she might not have been envious at all. The portraits held infamous witches and wizards, many of which very handsome despite the leering gazes that gave hints to the cold minds and hearts hidden beneath. The books which lined the shelves were by no means better. Many of which were genealogies of pure-blood families, others told of spells and potions long considered unlawful and unforgivable as well as the most powerful one that are still in sorted use.

Ginny tried to look at what was to the right and left of her, but even as she did so, she felt her eyes being pulled forward. She knew who was there and so she tried not to look, but his pull was inexorable. She had seen Tom many times before, but never his older counterpart. Ginny remembered Harry describing him, knew he would have red snake-like eyes and marble-white skin, but all the descriptions in the world could not prepare her to coming face to face with it. When her eyes were finally forced upon his it was all she could do to keep from screaming. The image of Tom Riddle that had brought her there was amalgamating with the seated Dark Lord. She could almost see his power growing as he incorporated a missing piece back into his personage. But Ginny wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing; she was able to hold her tongue. The knowledge that she had survived him before flitted through her head as she lowered her eyes, not wanting nor feeling like it would be appropriate to watch any longer. The Dark Lord would not give her a chance if she appeared defiant or even rude, but perhaps if… She didn't know what if. The ball was in his court and they both knew it. Best to be servile until she at least knew what he wanted. _He wouldn't have brought me here if there wasn't something he wanted, no use getting myself killed before I know what it is._

"Hello Ginevra. How nice of you to join me. Not as if you had any choice, of course." She hated him. Hated him so much. How could he sit there in that high-back armchair and talk to her in such a seemingly pleasant manner when the last time they had met he had been in the process of killing her by slowly draining her life-force? "Now now, Ginevra, you can not truly be upset about that. You should be honored that I chose you to help facilitate my return to power. It is because of your past service that I am giving you a chance now." Out of all the wizards out there, he chose her… But that was stupid! She shook her head slightly, trying to clear it. He was manipulating her again.

"_What do you want from me?_" It came out much louder and higher pitched than she intended. He was getting to her.

"Calm down," he chastised in infuriatingly mellow tones. "You'll find out your purpose soon enough. For now all I need is for you to swear your allegiance by accepting the dark mark." The Dark Lord's lip curled up at the mingled look of horror and fear that flashed across the young Weasley's face. Growing up in the wizarding world, Ginny knew what the dark mark was; she knew that it was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth and that appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup two years ago when the Death Eaters had gathered to wreak havoc. She had also heard that years ago whenever the Death Eaters killed the mark was seen above the house of the dead witch or wizard. But that didn't explain what taking the dark mark meant. She knew the Death Eaters were somehow branded… she finally decided to just ask.

"What do you mean 'accept the dark mark'… sir?" There was probably something more appropriate to address him as, but she couldn't think of anything at the moment.

"It is simple really," that horrid coldly polite voice again, "I imprint the dark mark on your arm. That way, when it glows you know you are being summoned and I always know where you are. When you aren't needed, the mark is invisible."

She wanted to ask again why he wanted her, but she knew he wouldn't answer and she probably get at least the Cruciatus curse put on her for impudence. Ginny really wasn't sure about this. What could he possibly want her for? But more importantly, did she even have a choice? Perhaps if she agreed she could spy for Dumbledore or maybe even figure out some way he could be defeated… If she could do that, she'd show those other pure-bloods that the Weasleys weren't to be looked down on just because they didn't have the amount of gold the other families did. But could she really stand up to You-know-who? She had before… for a while at any rate. But she was older now and she knew what to expect. She was still looking at the floor and did not see the Dark Lord's bemused expression. Her own thoughts were winning her to his side, he had been prepared to push but that didn't seem to be necessary. Delusions of grandeur, over-confidence… they were the downfalls of so many capable wizards.

"I- I don't know," was the answer Ginny finally came up with.

"You will only receive this offer once. If you refuse, your family moves to the top of my list of blood-traitors to terminate. Starting with you."

Well, that seemed to clear it up a bit. Death for her whole family or a tattoo. If she chose the dark mark there was at least the chance she could resist, find out something useful. If she declined, there was no chance at anything. Ginny still had images of herself as a heroine on the front page of the Daily Prophet under the headline of "The Witch Who Defeated You-Know-Who" when she gave her answer.

"Alright." She said in as calm a voice as she could muster.


	6. The Mark

The pain was like nothing Ginny could have ever imagined. She should have known that receiving the Dark Mark would not be a pleasant experience, but nothing could have prepared her for this. She was still rubbing her forearm hours later as she walked through the entrance to Gryffindor tower. The mark was not quite as invisible as You-Know-Who had led her to believe, but it had been steadily fading and probably wouldn't be visible much longer.

"Hey, Gin!"

She looked up quickly, startled out of her reverie. She really didn't want to talk with anyone right now, let alone her freakishly overprotective older brother. If she hadn't looked directly at him seconds before she would have pretended not to hear him and just have gone to bed. It had been a long day. But seeing as though he was frantically waving her over to the fireplace, she couldn't ignore him or he would know something was going on. And no one could know. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

"What's going on, Ron?" She asked as she approached, trying her best to sound as if she didn't just come from a secret meeting with the Dark Lord.

"Where have you been all day?"

_Great, I can't believe I came over here for this! _"Nowhere, Ron. I was just making up some Potions work. Because Snape hates you, he'd like to fail me as well. Can I go now? I'm really tired."

"Are you sure you weren't somewhere snogging Dean Thomas? I remember you talking about him at the end of last term. I'm going to kill that lousy-"

"_RON!_ I was doing a Potions assignment." She said through gritted teeth.

"Alright," he said, eyes narrowed as if he wasn't sure if he believed her. But he sure wasn't going to talk to Snape about it. "But why do you keep rubbing your arm?"

Uh-oh. She hadn't realized that she was still doing it. "I… burned it. While I was lighting the fire under my cauldron." She was so glad she hadn't said she was making up something for Arithmancy.

Without another word Ron grabbed her arm and pushed back her sleeve to examine her "burn." She tried to snatch her arm back, but his grip on her wrist was iron tight. She closed her eyes against the inevitable horror that would transform his face.

"Gin, there's not even a mark on you." She looked at her arm and to her relief the Mark had faded away completely.

"Well, it's still sore! I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Not wanting to hear another word from him, she took off up the stairs as fast as she could nearly bowling over a rather startled Hermione Granger.

When Hermione reached the fireplace and Ron she asked what was wrong with Ginny.

"She's just had to spend the day with Snape. That'd put anyone in a bad mood."

"But didn't Snape say he would be gone for the weekend? I could have sworn he said something about that last class." Hermione stopped when she saw the look on Ron's face.

"How would I know? I didn't make it into NEWT level Potions, remember?"

In the ensuing row, they both forgot about Snape and Ginny.

In the days and weeks that followed her meeting with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Ginny was always on alert. Who knew when he might call on her? Because Ginny was not old enough to have learned apparition and also because of the Hogwarts security measures, he had given her a quill that would serve as a portkey exactly five minutes after she was called. Ginny had gotten into the habit of always carrying it with her. She didn't want to know what would happen if she ever missed a summoning. Ginny knew it could happen at any time, but it wasn't until Halloween that she actually had to use it.

The Dark Lord apparently had no consideration for Hogwarts's class schedule. Ginny felt her arm burning during double-Herbology. For a second she panicked, and then she did what Fred and George would have done and ate a Puking Pastille. Silent thanking her older brothers' ingenuity, she raised her hand.

"Professor Sprout! I don't feel very-" was all she could get out before a wave of nausea hit her. She was dismissed from class immediately. Ginny had just enough time to get to the girls bathroom near the Great Hall before her quill portkey activated and she was whisked away.


End file.
